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Willow is a 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard, based on a story by George Lucas.
ProductionGeorge Lucas originally planned to film an adaptation of The Hobbit. Unable to secure the rights, he wrote Willow, which shares many similarities with J.R.R. Tolkien's celebrated novel, and its sequel, The Lord of the Rings.
As an interesting sidenote, the two-headed monster in the film, the Ebersisk, was named as a reference to popular movie critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel; the villainous General Kael was also named for a critic, noted female journalist, Pauline Kael. Filming action scenes in the snow of a New Zealand winter prompted Val Kilmer to remark that he wished his wardrobe shirt had buttons, as the open shirt bared his chest to the cold. Much of the concept art, such as creature designs and storyboard art, was drawn by Jean Giraud (Moebius) and Chris Achilleos. Ultimately, the designs which appeared in the final film were considerably different from those initial designs; several sequences were also completely cut from the film due to time constraints. One such scene was a battle at sea in which the heroes narrowly escape a giant sea monster, which was depicted as a huge anthropomorphic shark in storyboard artwork. SynopsisSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Willow is aided by the disillusioned master swordsman Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), who has turned to a life of roguery, and the sorceress Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes), who has been turned into a possum by Bavmorda. They are initially thwarted, but later joined, by the queen's daughter Sorsha (played by Joanne Whalley, later Kilmer's wife). ReleaseWhen Willow was released, it was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lucasfilm, Ltd. At The Time, the videotape was From RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video. The DVD was THX-Certified. ReceptionCritics attacked Willow on its initial release (the movie carries a 43% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes, [1]). Furthermore, the movie was only modestly successful at the box office, grossing only $57 million domestically. [2] The performances (particularly Davis') and special effects were generally praised, but the film's story was widely dismissed as too derivative of Tolkien and other fantasy authors. In the years since its release, it has built up a strong cult following and currently holds an 83% "fresh" rating among users at Rotten Tomatoes [3], a 7.0 rating at the Internet Movie Database [4], as well as a "B" at Box Office Mojo. [5] Cast
DVD releaseImage:WillowDVDcover.jpeg The DVD cover of Willow. Willow was released on DVD on November 27, 2001. The film was presented in anamorphic widescreen in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with its sound remixed in 5.1 surround sound. Features:
Many fans and critics complained about the lack of extensive deleted scenes, a more in-depth documentary, and a commentary from the filmmakers.[citation needed] SoundtrackThe music in the film was composed by James Horner and is considered a very strong musical score. Distinct echoes of Robert Schumann's Rhenish Symphony may be heard in the triumphant theme. The main theme also bears a resemblance to the "Redemption" motif from Richard Wagner's operatic tetralogy Der Ring Des Nibelungen. SpinoffsVideo gameThe film was the basis of the video game Willow, which was released in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Capcom and also the PC which was done by Mindscape. Capcom also created a Willow arcade game which played much differently than its console cousin, being a side-scrolling platformer rather than an adventure/RPG game similar to Zelda. NovelsThe novelization, written by Wayland Drew and available around the time of the movie's release, contains all the scenes that were eventually cut from the film, along with additional history and character backgrounds added by the author. George Lucas outlined a trilogy to follow the film and hired comic-book writer/novelist Chris Claremont to adapt them into a series of books. They take place about fifteen years after the original film and feature the now teenage Elora Danan as the central character. The books are: Comic BookMarvel Comics published a three-issue adaptation of the film. It featured many of the scenes which were cut from the film. TV seriesIn April 2005, during the Star Wars "Celebration III" fan convention, George Lucas hinted in an interview[1] that given his company (Lucasfilm) was moving into television production again, there could be a Willow television series. Trivia
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